Timbers U23s vs Calgary Foothills FC

Teams: Calgary Foothills FC
Goalscorers: Match ended 0-0. / Competition: 2015 USL-PDL Northwest Division Regular Season
Date: June 7th, 2015 / Scout: Rocky Martin

HOW THEY LINED UP:

FORMATION COMMENTS
#17 Ramsay came in for #11 Poletto in the 21st minute as Poletto was injured. The team closed down the opposition well in the right side and poorly on the left side through the first half, which caused their formation to become a bit lopsided with #4 dropping deeper and #3 not getting up into the attack. They grew into the game and the formation evened out in the second half for an attacking 4-4-2 diamond, or a 4-1-3-2 formation.
KEY POINTS

General

/ The link up play between their defence and midfield was poor. The midfield played well in attack, but could not create dangerous team play. the left midfielder made good runs and was covered well by the CAM. The right midfielder looked to play the penetrating through ball in attack and spread the play in defence and transition. The right back grew into the game and closed down the T-U23 attack on his side of the field. Other than that all the performances were average to poor.
Defence / The central defenders played functionally, and the right back shone through in an overall average team performance. The left back played poorly, but did not make any critical mistakes. For their tactics to work, the fullbacks needed to play more attacking roles, but they played back most of the match. Near the end they got forward well, but could not recover functionally. The goalkeeper had several good saves, but was not consistent in coming off his line properly.
Midfield / The midfield was tactically composed. Bauche would make runs with the ball into the middle and Reyes would cover for him. Adekugbe would look to make the penetrating pass in attack, and look to spread the play in transition or defense. Hickson played almost exclusively in defensive midfield, only getting forward for corner kicks.
Attack / #9 Russo played the target forward adequately. He brought down the ball, held it up, and played wall passes fairly well. The support striker was subbed out injured in the 21st minute, and subsequent substitutes were unable to link up well enough with the CAM and target forward to create anything substantial.
THE TEAM
#31 Sean Melvin, GK / Poor open play clearances. Right foot dominant. He showed good composure to not destroy players when they are through on goal, but this could mean he is timid. Came out well to block a one on one shot from Adrian Perez.
#2 Dean Northover, RB / He was the most interesting player on the day. At first he exhibited a poor first touch, poor to average closing down, slowness on the ball, and poor recovering. He grew into the match though. He seems to be a very smart player and was gauging how and how well the T-U23 players would approach him before deciding whether or not to commit to tackles against certain players through the rest of the match. Highlight player of the day for me.
#5 Jay Wheeldon, CB / Took right footed free kicks from the center of the pitch. Closed down easily by fast players. Deepest defender in defence and in defensive transition.
#6 Dominick Zator, CB / Average headed clearances, good left footed clearances. Commands the backline well, setting the offside line.
#3 Massimo Megna, LB / Weak left foot, poorly ambidextrous. Good strong tackles, gets stuck in. Burned easily by Fisher, likely burned easily by any quick player. Poor to average control of the ball.
# 8 Elijah Adekugbe, RM / Looks to play the penetrating through pass in attack and in transition, looks to spread the play in defence. Some lapses in defensive awareness. Average control of the ball.
#4 Mitchell Bauche, LM / Makes long runs with the ball, takes good left and right footed shots. Switches well with #7 Reyes for cover. Above average control of the ball, good one-two play. Positions himself a bit behind the top of the box on free kicks and corner kicks to set up for rebound long shots.
#18, Timothy Hickson, CDM / Average to good defensive awareness for a CDM, doesn't trust the CBs to do their job. Commits to challenges without thought to opposition's ability to beat him, gets stuck in poorly.
#7 Nic Reyes, CAM
/ Takes right footed free kicks from wings, takes very good corner kicks from both sides. Good quick one-two passing, draws defenders into tackles before quickly offloading the ball laterally and moving forward. Covers well for #4 Bauche.
#9 Dominic Russo, Target Forward / Good work rate, gets back in defence when necessary. Makes channel runs up the right on the counter attack. A bit lazy and prone to making petty fouls when beaten.
#11 Vito Poletto, Support Striker / Out injured for #17 at 21:12'.
Substitutes:
#17 Darius Ramsay, Support Striker / In for #11 at 21:12'. Switches sides with #9 to play on the left. Poor left inswinging right footed corner kicks. Yellow card at 61'. Subbed in and out of the match.
#20 Miguel Romeo, CAM
/ In for #17 at 64'. Competing with #5 for central free kicks. Sloppy giveaways in passing. Good awareness to drop into defensive midfield if not involved in attack or attacking transition.
#14 Tyrin Hutchings, Support Striker / In for #7 at 64'. Bigger and taller support striker than other options. Often offside. Outstanding work rate, has something to prove.
#22 Justin Anderson-Louch, RM / In for #8 at 80:43'. Good feet.
MISSING KEY PLAYERS
Unused substitutes include #s 1, 15, and 19.
SET PIECES:
Corners:
They were tactically sound on corner kicks. #7 Reyes would take excellent CKs from both sides, hitting dangerous spots at the top of the six yard box. #17 Ramsay would take good short corners when opportunities arose. On defending corners, #9 Russo stayed up top and #22 Louch positioned at the top of the 18 yard box to spring the counter attack.
Free-Kicks:
Little tactical awareness on free kicks. #5 Wheeldon would lob free kicks from the center of the pitch forward, #7 Reyes would put wider free kicks into the box, and the rest of the players crashed the box in hopes of getting a goal. No short free kick awareness, but #4 Bauche and #8 Adekugbe could help with that if they chose to change tactics.
Throw-ins:
Nothing special to note about throw-ins.
Additional Information at Set Plays:
#7 Reyes put in some excellent free kicks from the wings and corner kicks on both sides. No other player had any notable free kicks besides a good short corner from #17. Perhaps Reyes should take all the free kicks including centrally. Or perhaps #8 Adekugbe should take central free kicks and look to play wide to #7 who could put in dangerous crosses from the wings.
Penalties:
No penalties were awarded during this match.
Best Headers:
There were no notable headers in this match.
ASSESSMENT:
Overall the play from Calgary Foothills was average. Notable performances came from #2 Dean Northover and #4 Mitchell Bauche. If #11 had not been injured, the outcome may have been different as he was combining well with #9 and #7 before he was forced off. #17 played adequately in his stead, but did not combine as well. Bauche added a level of difficulty to defending Calgary's game with his slaloming runs and shots from outside the box. #8 Elijah Adekugbe has potential to become a playmaker with his eye for spreading the play and making dagger through passes. #14 showed the most enthusiasm of any Calgary player on the night. He came on as a second half substitute with something to prove and flew across the pitch. If Bauche and Northover had shown the same level of enthusiasm as Hutchings, I'm confident Calgary would have won the match.
OPPONENTS FORMATION
The Timbers U23s started out with a 4-3-3, switched to a 4-2-3-1, and then switched back to a 4-3-3 during the match. They played with one true holding midfielder for most of the match, but #10 dropped back to help cover for a while at #16 pushed out wide.